Rooney strikes to open 15-point lead

ALL BUT OVER:Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat at 10-man Everton saw United go further clear, while Aston Villa won a 3-2 thriller to pull away from the relegation zone

AFP, LONDON

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, left, scores past Reading’s Alex Pearce in their Premier League match at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, on Saturday.

Photo: Reuters

Manchester United capitalized on a slipup by Manchester City to open up a massive 15-point lead at the Premier League summit, despite a labored display in a 1-0 win at home to Reading on Saturday.

City’s defeat at 10-man Everton handed United a chance to further increase their lead and they grasped the opportunity through a solitary first-half goal from Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford.

Rio Ferdinand celebrated his recall to the England squad by creating the goal in the 21st minute, boldly striding forward, before slipping the ball to Rooney, who beat Stuart Taylor with a deflected shot.

In response, Hal Robson-Kanu grazed the post with a crisp long-range strike for second-bottom Reading, who sacked manager Brian McDermott on Monday last week.

Taylor saved from Robin van Persie and Ryan Giggs in a quiet second half, but although United were well below par, their 20th English league title now seems only a matter of time.

“We don’t do it [play badly and win] that often,” United manager Alex Ferguson told ESPN. “Most of the time we’ve played well this season. The performance today doesn’t reflect the 15 points ahead we are — it’s the previous six months, really.”

Everton all but ended City’s title defense earlier in the day with a gritty and controversial 2-0 win over the defending champions at Goodison Park.

The hosts won despite having Steven Pienaar sent off, while City should have had a late penalty at 1-0 down when referee Lee Probert awarded a free-kick, despite Marouane Fellaini handling the ball inside the Everton box.

City assistant coach David Platt said manager Roberto Mancini was too “angry” to speak to media after the game and claimed his side had been denied a blatant spot-kick.

“You’ve just played it to me [on a television replay] and it’s not even on the line of the area, it’s three yards inside,” he told Sky Sports. “People can draw their own conclusions, but we didn’t get it. Perhaps we could have got more out of the game if the decisions had gone for us.”

Leon Osman made the breakthrough with a wickedly swerving strike in the 32nd minute, with Nikica Jelavic adding a second in stoppage-time after Pienaar had been shown a second yellow card for a shin-high foul on Javi Garcia.

“We have had one or two dips, but that was more like us today,” said Everton manager David Moyes, whose side lost 3-0 at home to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup the previous weekend. “I thought we had a bad performance last week, which the fans rightly reminded us about, but we just reminded them they are supporting a really good team.”

Victory temporarily lifted Everton into fifth place, but they slipped back to sixth after Arsenal won 2-0 at Swansea City to move to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea.

January signing Nacho Monreal and Gervinho struck late in the game at the Liberty Stadium as Arsene Wenger’s side responded in positive fashion to their midweek elimination from the UEFA Champions League.

“The spirit we showed today was fantastic. We’re up for the battle,” Arsenal manager Wenger said.

Meanwhile, Liverpool lost ground in the race for European qualification after losing 3-1 at Southampton.

Morgan Schneiderlin neatly converted a Jay Rodriguez knock-down in the sixth minute to put Southampton ahead at St Mary’s, before Rickie Lambert doubled the hosts’ lead with a deflected free-kick.